Up Sticks
by Thatoneloserkid
Summary: 'prompt: they were roommates, oh my god they were roommates' & 'ANGST' They had been best friends since preschool, until Nico moved across the country without so much as a goodbye.


She and Nico had been best friends for years, they met in preschool and grew up together.

There was always something different about Nico to Karolina, but she figured it was down to them being best friends.

They were inseparable up until they were fifteen, when Nico just didn't show up for school one day.

Karolina texted her but she didn't receive a reply, she called later that night and Nico's phone was switched off.

That terrified Karolina, she thought maybe it was because of the quick kiss they had shared the night before. But after the kiss everything was normal again, like nothing had happened.

She swung by Nico's place the following day and frowned at the 'sold' sign in the front yard.

It wasn't until she spoke to her mother that she found out the Minoru's had up stickers and left.

Karolina didn't believe her at first, she and Nico had been friends for a decade, she wouldn't just leave without saying anything.

"The Minoru's wanted to start a fresh somewhere else, after what happened with Amy, that means leaving everything behind." Leslie said like it wasn't a big deal, like Karolina's best friend hadn't just left without so much as a goodbye.

Karolina thought back to the night before she left, Nico had been acting odd but when Karolina asked Nico said she was just hormonal.

Nico had clung to Karolina all night, curling up against her with her head against Karolina's shoulder, which had Karolina flustered, her stomach in knots.

"I love you, you know?" Nico had whispered against her ear and Karolina knew that if she told anyone about this side of Nico they would never believe her. But she never would, she liked having this Nico to herself.

Karolina has looked down at Nico, smiling softly at her. "Yeah, I know." She hummed. "And I love you."

Nico took in a deep breath, stretching up to plant a kiss on Karolina's lips. "I'm sorry."

Karolina frowned, her chest heating up and butterflies erupting in her stomach. "It's okay,"

Looking back, Karolina realised she wasn't apologising for the kiss, but for the fact she was about to leave.

Karolina tried, she kept trying Nico but after a few weeks she gave up, it was also around that time she realised that maybe what she felt for Nico wasn't entirely friendly.

Karolina was heart broken but she got on with it, burying herself in school work and the church.

The pain eventually lessened, though there wasn't a day that didn't go by that she didn't think about Nico, that she didn't think about what they could have had.

She knew it wasn't Nico's fault they had to move but it was Nico who left without a goodbye.

—

She didn't think she would ever see Nico again so when she entered her dorm room at university and saw the girl sitting on one of the two beds she was surprised.

Nico glanced up, doing a double take when she realised who was standing at the door.

"Karolina?" Nico was shocked too, if the look on her face was anything to go by.

"Nico, what are you doing here?"

"This is my room," Nico said, slowly standing, her eyes running the length of Karolina. "You look- wow."

Karolina almost swooned, until she remember what Nico had done to her.

"I can't believe I have to room with you." Karolina huffed, dropping her bag on her bed before leaving again, ignoring Nico as she called her name.

Karolina made camp in the common room, that's where she met Molly, a child prodigies who skipped two years and came to the university with her sister.

"You look upset, sad you're leaving home?" Molly said, taking a seat across from Karolina.

"No," Karolina sighed. "I'm rooming with someone from my past, she wasn't very nice."

"Oh, that sucks."

That was the start of her friendship with Molly, and by extension, Gert and Chase, who were dating, high school sweethearts.

Karolina avoided her room as much as she could, only really going back to sleep.

Nico looked at her like she was wounded whenever Karolina ignored her but she never stopped trying to engage with Karolina.

Karolina found herself staring at Nico when the girl wasn't looking, when she studying, her hair pulled up in a messy bun and her comfy clothes on.

She couldn't help but glance at Nico when she was getting dressed or when she was just out of the shower.

Karolina was yearning for Nico, but she pushed that feeling away and remained cold to her.

She would answer Nico's questions in short, cold sentences, or just not at all.

They argued, but only a few times, cause Karolina really didn't have it in her.

Nico backed off a little when Karolina starting seeing this girl a few weeks into the year, leaving the room whenever Karolina brought the girl over.

It didn't last long, it wasn't fair, Karolina was still pining after her childhood crush, so she broke it off.

Julie took it well, kissing a tearful Karolina on the forehead and saying, _"Holding a grudge gets exhausting, and you can lose out on a lot of things because of them."_

"No Julie tonight?" Nico asked one night when Karolina came home alone.

"We broke up,"

"I'm sorry," Nico sounded genuinely sorry, which surprised Karolina a little. "Karo, can-"

"You aren't allowed to call me that,"

"Why?"

"Why?" Karolina snapped incredulously, the anger burning in her chest from the past few weeks of ignoring a girl she was in love with, even after all that happened. "You _left_ , Nico! Without so much as a goodbye."

Nico looked baffled at the accusation, which just made Karolina's anger flare. "I left you a note,"

"No you didn't,"

"I did! I left it with your mom."

Karolina wound up to argue back but stopped, a sense of dread and realisation settling over her. "What did it say?"

"That we were moving, that I couldn't bring myself to tell you, how I felt about you." Nico explained. "I didn't think they would take my phone but they wanted us to cut ties completely. I tried to find you after, on Facebook or something, but you don't have one."

"My mom read it," Karolina snapped. "Of course she did. And she saw what you said and didn't show me."

"So you never- you never saw what I wrote?"

"No," Karolina lifted her eyes to Nico. "Why?"

"I just-" Nico shrugged, looking nervous as she scratched the skin behind her ear. "I kinda poured my heart out, I suppose. I wrote about the kiss, and how it was something that I wanted for a while and I just had to do it before I left. About how I didn't understand what my feels where, I didn't even know girls liking girls was a thing until I saw something on TV."

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

"My life was about to be uprooted, I just figured I would write you the letter and leave the ball in your court. I left my new address but when you didn't get back to me I figured you didn't want this."

"I didn't get it, if I had I would have written to you." Karolina swore. "I'm not even surprised, all my mom does is take the stuff I care about."

"I've missed you." Nico admitted. "I drove back in the summer but your dad told me you were off travelling Europe on your own."

"He didn't even say you stopped by." Karolina sighed, falling down onto her bed. "I knew they knew I was gay, and I knew they hated it, but I never thought they would so actively sabotage something."

"They can't sabotage anything now," Nico reasoned. "You're out of their grasp."

"That's not the point." Karolina growled. "They took away something that could have been great, we could have been great."

"I was over the other side of the country, this would never have worked." Nico said, moving to kneel down in front of Karolina. "With me being so far away, your parents and us being so young it might have ended badly. Maybe you're parents done us a favour."

Karolina give that reasoning done thought, she knew Nico was probably right, that the relationship might have ended up toxic had tried to force it over a large distance and with Karolina in the voice of homophobic parents.

"Not that- I mean, I'm just assuming this is still what you want, it has been three years."

Nico's panic made Karolina smile, she reached out and tentatively touched Nico's cheek, forcing the girl to look up at her.

"My feels for you never wavered, which is why it has been so hard being mad at you for the past couple of months." Karolina slid her hand to cup Nico's cheek when the girl didn't shy away from her. "I'm sorry that I didn't give to the chance to explain."

"You thought I left without saying goodbye," Nico sighed, closing her eyes and nuzzling into Karolina's hand. "I would be mad, too."

"Can I kiss you?" Karolina whispered, a smile pulling onto her lips when Nico let out a little laugh of relief.

"I would like nothing better."

The kiss was a lot like their first kiss, tentative and unsure, Nico's hands landing high on Karolina's thighs, probably to steady herself, while Karolina's hands moved from Nico's cheeks into her hair.

"I'm sorry. I'm _so_ sorry." Nico gasped out when they broke apart.

"It's okay. It's okay, Nico." Karolina assured, their foreheads falling together. "It isn't your fault, this is on my parents."

"No, I shouldn't have been such a coward, I should have actually told you I was leaving instead of just writing a letter." Nico sighed. "But I honestly think I would have asked you just to run away with me."

"Stupidly, I would've gone." Karolina grinned.

Nico laughed, ducking her head, looking almost bashful, which filled Karolina with this odd sense of pride.

"Can I take you out tonight?" Karolina asked, ducking her head to look Nico in the eye.

"Of course you can,"

"Cool, I will pick you up at seven." Karolina bounded off the bed, leaving a confused Nico kneeling by her bed.

"Pick me?" Nico frowned. "We share a room, what are you gonna do? Go outside and knock when we're ready."

"Nope," Karolina popped the 'p', routing around in her drawers for something to wear. "I'm going to Gert and Molly's to get dressed."

"You don't have to do that,"

Karolina grabbed the make up she would be using, placing it in her bag, followed by the jeans and shirt she was planning on wearing. "I want to do this right, do what we never got the chance to as teenagers." Karolina stopped at Nico on her way to the door, planting a kiss on her head. "See you in a couple of hours."

"Where are we going?"

"Who knows?" Karolina shrugged, turning to Nico and back-peddling toward the door. "The world is our oyster, Nico."

Nico rolled her eyes at Karolina. "I'll see you soon."

Karolina grinned giddily, opening the door and stepping outside, peeking around the door. "Bye,"


End file.
